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Ginny had had enough. Ron was being a complete moron, and though she had been a decent friend over the summer, Hermione wasn’t much better. So. Ginny did what she knew needed to be done. She watched as Harry disappeared to his dorm, a majority of the house glaring at him or ignoring him, and marched over to her older brothers. She spotted Neville and grabbed his arm, before dragging him, along with Fred, George following, out of the common room and down to an empty classroom before warding the door and looking at them while she tapped her foot.
“Why us?” George asked curiously, head tilted a bit as he looked at his sister.
“Because it has to be.” Ginny shrugged. “You’ve seen and heard the rest of them. They know fuck-all about Harry, were happy to praise him when he was ‘the boy-who-lived’, or whatever. Yes, I had a horrid fascination with him as a little girl, no I’m not entirely over it, but that’s not what he needs. He’s used to being entirely alone. Ron and Hermione have each abandoned him for various reasons over the past few years I’ve been in school with them, and I’m sure it happened a bit their first year as well. If mum knew the truth, knew that Ron was being so thick-headed, she’d have his hide. But Harry isn’t gonna ask for help. He didn’t with what happened my first year, let alone when he had to deal with that mess with his godfather last year.”
“But because we’ve always treated Harry like anyone else, you think he’ll accept our involvement more easily. Our brand of help.” Fred hummed, pursing his lips a bit.
“He knows I’m on his side.” Neville shrugged.
“I suppose it also helps that half of this group is arse over tits for him, too.” Fred added.
“I am not.” Ginny and George both exclaimed, flushing when they caught each others’ eyes.
“You weren’t actually pointed out, but good to know.” Neville chuckled, high-fiving Fred. “We’ll work out which of you should go to the ball with him later. We all know he may like someone but he’s not gonna ask them until it’s nearly too late or he has to go alone.”
“Why not you, Nev?” George asked, still flushed.
“I’d go with him, but my Gran would probably expect us to get married or something and Harry’s not my type.” Neville chuckled. “You or Fred should do it, though. You always make him laugh or make him feel better in some way when he’s stressed. He really appreciated you idiots walking around clearing a path for him our second year when everyone thought he was the Heir of Slytherin.”
“He did seem oddly grateful for that.” Fred agreed. “We’ll figure that out later. First task is in a few weeks, so he’ll have time to get a good sulk going, unless we intervene. Gin, you’re on Prophet detail. We know they’re going to post insanely dramatized versions of whatever he says in his interview, let alone what other people say about him. I want you to hone your best Veracity Millborne from Mum’s favorite wireless.”
“Done.” Ginny chuckled, rubbing her hands together excitedly. “Lee can help, too. He’s got a good voice for radio. We do well enough we’ll find a way to pirate our way into our own station making a parody of the news.”
“Perfect.” Fred and George said, grinning crookedly and slapping her hands.
“I’ll start putting doubt into the minds of the other Heirs.” Neville nodded. “They all think he’s ignoring proper customs or traditions, not that he doesn’t know any of them. Putting doubt in their mindset about his knowledge will have them asking questions about how he’s treated out of school. Finally.”
“Seriously!” George exclaimed unhappily. “I don’t understand how no one else sees how scrawny his arse is.”
“Me neither.” Neville shrugged. “No one even questions why he doesn’t change in our dorm, always doing it in the washroom, in the cubicles.”
“Idiots.” Ginny huffed. “Fred, you’re point on the bets, George will work on sabotaging anyone outside of school trying to bet or interfere and send Harry shit mail.”
“Think I’ll get caught if I put a modified mail ward on him?” George asked curiously, snagging a parchment from his robes and jotting a note down.
“Not if you do it through the goblins.” Neville commented. “Tell them you are concerned for his well-being, that you’re worried he’ll be targeted nefariously because of being forced to participate. You’re not wanting to hold his mail from him, just store it until the tournament is over. Open a new vault, maybe. Don’t interfere with the current mail ward, if you can help it, though.”
“Can’t believe he still hasn’t asked to have it removed.” George grumbled, tucking his note away.
“Doubt he knows it’s there.” Ginny said carefully. “I mean, a lot of people have done a lot to keep him ignorant. Like his heirship, his actual heritage, the fact he should have a say in those daft adventure books written with his name.”
“You loved those books.” Fred pointed out, smirking at her, regardless of her glare.
“Yeah, and then I met him and realized he had no idea about any of this.” Ginny argued. “You know what? Never mind. I’ll talk one of the Claws or Puffs into sorting out that issue.”
“Good idea.” Neville agreed. “Susan Bones’ aunt works as head of the DMLE. She’d probably love to dig into things like this.”
“And we’re telling Harry, or not telling Harry?” George asked, leaning back and crossing his arms with Fred against the wall.
“Telling him, obviously.” Ginny scoffed. “We’ll start our tasks and tomorrow, we’ll ambush him and tell him we’re helping whether he wants it or not.”
“So I should not say anything when I get to the dorm tonight.” Neville sighed. “Alright. I’ll see if I can lie to him. Regular lie or lie by omission. Let’s see if I can pull it off.”
“Ah, come on, Nev. You got this.” Fred encouraged, putting an arm over his shoulders while George did the same on his other side.
“Yeah, we believe in you.” George agreed with a crooked grin.
“Fine.” Neville groaned. “I pull this off and you’re asking Harry to the ball before he even knows about it.”
“Deal.” George shrugged unconcernedly.
“And we keep Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum out of this.” Ginny added, taking her ward off the door and leading the way back to the tower. “I’m not chancing them fucking up our plans, let alone coming back to his side once the first task is over and they finally realize how dangerous it all actually is.”
“Sounds like a plan, little sister.” Fred hummed approvingly.
The rest of the night was Ginny harassing Lee into joining her in her dramatic reading of any and all future articles from the paper until he agreed. He’d tried hiding behind Fred and George, but they only looked at him calculatingly, as if planning a prank should he refuse, until he agreed. Neville had smirked at them before heading to his dorm, ignoring Ron and Hermione whispering in the corner as if they were having an argument. Which was entirely possible.
The next morning was fairly slow, nothing out of the ordinary. Well, aside from her, Fred, George, and Neville encompassing Harry at the table and chatting around him as if it were any other day. Harry eventually lost the tension in his shoulders the longer they sat with him and even smiled a bit. Ginny took that as encouragement to pursue her plan with her brothers. They did the same at lunch and dinner before herding Harry along with them out to the lake. Yeah, it was freezing out, but no one would willingly interfere in something Fred and George were a part of, let alone Ginny. She knew how to get revenge better than any of her brothers.
“Ok, what’s going on?” Harry demanded, when Fred put up a silencing charm around them that muffled all sound outside of their little bubble.
“Depends.” George shrugged.
“Not liking our company?” Neville added, raising an eyebrow at Harry.
“No, I do.” Harry corrected, looking surprised. “I do, really, it’s … it’s great, it’s just …”
“‘It’s just’ everyone else is treating you like shite?” Ginny offered.
“Well, yeah.” Harry shrugged, looking bashful.
“We want to help you.” Fred stated, plopping on the ground and patting next to him for Harry to sit as well. Which he did, because Harry was a lot like an abused crup. He craved affection but was afraid of it at the same time.
“We want you to survive, no matter what anyone thinks about whether you did or didn’t put your name in.” George agreed, sitting on Harry’s other side and bumping his shoulder against his.
“I didn’t!” Harry exclaimed, sounding exhausted.
“We know.” Ginny said gently. “But you also know that’s what people are talking about most. Did you or didn’t you? If you did, how did you do it? If not, why would anyone do it to you? Motives abound, dear Harry Potter.” she sighed, sitting on Fred’s other side, while Neville sat by George.
“We also know, however dangerous the first task is, the nitwits will come ‘round and decide you must be telling the truth so now they should finally listen to you.” Neville added.
“So what’s in it for you?” Harry asked cautiously. “No one offers help freely, there’s always a cost.”
“We’re taking care of that.” Fred waved his concern aside. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Just ignore what we’re doing outside of our meetings with you.” Ginny added.
“Wait, you guys are just barely younger than Cedric and the other Champions.” Harry said suddenly, looking between the twins. “Plus, you actually wanted to compete. Can you help me figure out spells that are helpful? Like, I know I’m only a fourth year, so I don’t have nearly as much experience as the others, but I have a fair amount of power, so I’m told.”
“We’ll get you sorted.” George smirked with Fred.
“If you can figure out the tasks, it’ll help us figure out how to help you better.” Neville added.
“So if you get a hint or a clue or something, try and find a way to tell us so we can help figure it out in between. You can’t actually ask a teacher or anyone for help with the task, persay, but we can help you learn new spells that might be help ful .” Fred nodded.
“Thanks, guys.” Harry said gratefully, smiling at each of them. “I really don’t want to do this, and I’ve been crazy stressed with Ron and Hermione fighting, and I hate that this is what is coming between us after all we’ve been through-”
“We get it.” They all responded, making Harry blush and chuckle.
“S’pose it’d help for me to tell you I know the first task already?” Harry offered weakly.
“A bit.” Neville chuckled.
“It’s dragons.” Harry sighed heavily, looking defeated. “Shield charms aren’t much help, but the only other thing I can think of is flying. Only I’m not allowed a broom or anything.”
“So summon it.” Ginny said with a shrug, wiggling her wand in front of Harry’s face. She had to fight back a laugh at his ‘oh’ look of dawning realization that he was, in fact, a wizard. “You’re meant to learn that this year anyway, right?”
“Dunno. That’d be a Charms class lesson, and I usually only read ahead in Defense.” Harry bit his lip. “Think I can summon it from the castle to the task?”
“Probably.” George hummed.
“Dragons like to collect things and are insanely protective of their nests.” Fred added, looking thoughtful.
“You’re probably meant to retrieve something, not actually fight one.” Neville agreed, looking a little pale at the idea.
“Still not easy to do. If I summon my broom, will only mine come, or will a couple? Like, could I summon a few and have them distract the dragon while I get whatever I’m meant to get?”
“Might be a good distraction.” George said, looking at Fred with an eerie grin. “Could work.”
“Be a good test run at the least.” Fred agreed to whatever George was talking about.
“Just don’t put them on the broom Harry’s meant to fly on.” Neville cut in.
“No problem.” They agreed, still grinning wickedly. Ginny rolled her eyes. All of her family were so dramatic.
“Probably best you don’t get hurt too much.” Ginny commented, chucking a stone into the lake. “Not with McGonagall’s dance lessons coming up.”
“Dance lessons?” Harry’s voice cracked. “For what?”
“Why do you think you needed dress robes?” Neville grinned. “There’s a ball at Yule. Always is with the tournament. Plus, Hogwarts used to have one every few years. There was meant to be one for us all next year, according to the school’s past fifty or so years. Since you’re only a fourth year, it means all of our year will get to go, too. Instead of just fifth year and above. Should be fun.”
“I am NOT dancing.” Harry shuddered.
“Not gonna have a choice, mate.” Fred snickered. “Champions open the dancing at the ball with their dates.”
“What?!” Harry shrieked, reaching up and tugging on his hair in distress.
“Figured you’d be stressed about it.” George and Fred carefully took his hands away from his hair. “We also thought you’d like to go with a friend.”
“Well, sure, but I don’t have a lot of those.” Harry grumbled, leaning against George’s shoulder.
“You’ve got us.” Fred argued, nudging him slightly.
“You can go with me, if you want?” George offered, his cheeks pink, not just from the cold.
“Really?” Harry asked hopefully, looking up at George so earnestly it made Ginny’s face feel warm, too. She probably looked as flustered as George, and Harry wasn’t even giving her the full adorable hopeful eyes.
“Yeah.” George smiled softly at him. “Fred’s gonna ask Angelina, and Neville said he can’t go with you without his Gran wanting you two to get married.”
“Sorry, Har,” Neville sighed dramatically, making Harry snort, “I already told them, but you’re not my type.”
“It’s alright, Nev.” Harry snickered. “Yeah, George. I’ll go with you.”
“Good.” George beamed. “Want to meet tomorrow or this weekend to practice summoning?”
“Yeah, that’d be a good idea.” Harry let out a long breath, looking more peaceful than he had in a while. “I’ve got that interview coming up soon, I expect.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that.” Ginny smiled wickedly. “No matter what you say, I promise, by the second task, they’ll be ready to finally print truth instead of gossip. I hear it’s Rita Skeeter covering the tournament. An honest to Merlin gossip columnist, not an actual reporter. I have a very intricate plan to make them regret that decision.”
“I look forward to seeing it in action.” Harry snickered, reaching over and high-fiving her.
“It’ll be great.” Fred snickered. “Lee’s gonna help.”
“I kinda want to know, but I kinda also want to see what you’ve come up with like everyone else.” Harry chuckled. “Now I just need to decide what all I want to say. Like, tell the truth, or just bullshit my way through it all.”
“You know which one we’d prefer.” Fred ruffled Harry’s already atrociously messy hair.
“But the truth could work since they won’t print it right anyway.” Neville added.
Ginny was feeling pretty good when they went back to the castle and got to the common room. She didn’t even care that everyone had pretty much gone silent when they walked in. She just smirked at several people who quickly looked away. Neville had his arm over Harry’s shoulders and nodded goodbye to them while he and Harry went to their dorm. Ron scowled at them and Ginny raised an eyebrow at him with Fred and George at her back. She knew he wasn’t brave enough to challenge her, let alone her paired with the twins. So it wasn’t surprising that he backed off. It was surprising when Hermione caught her as she was headed for her dorm to ask how Harry was. She really wanted to hex her, but took a deep breath and let it go before saying he was as good as could be expected and the twins were helping him. Hermione just thanked her for finding a way to help him before going to her dorm.
It became sort of fun after that. Meeting up with Harry to help him practice during his free periods, planning out where to put the brooms he was going to summon, practicing summoning from outside to see if they all made it. They were using the old Slytherin team brooms since everyone had the nice ones that Malfoy’s father had bought. Seeing the badges that Malfoy made only encouraged her to start the rumor that she did. It wasn’t even hard, actually.
“You know,” Ginny said quietly, when her Hufflepuff year mates were sporting their badges with Cedric’s face in the library, “it’s a bit odd that Malfoy went to so much trouble to make something like a badge that supported the Hufflepuff Champion over Harry. Making sure to draw attention to the charm that changes to demean him, I mean. Almost like he didn’t actually care who the Hogwarts Champion was as long as he had a chance to get Harry’s attention.”
From there, it spread that Malfoy was desperately in love with Harry, before it morphed and he was heartbroken that Cedric was competing in something so dangerous. As if he were worried about the older Hufflepuff boy for more than the tournament. Ginny just smirked anytime she heard another twist on it. She even subtly suggested that Malfoy was the secret President of the boy-who-lived fan-club within the school. George confirmed that he’d seen him at the meetings and presided over everything like a dictator, waxing poetic about his eyes the whole time.
“That’s it!” Malfoy shouted in the entryway to the Great Hall a few days before the task. “Tell everyone it’s a lie, Potter!”
“What’s a lie?” Harry asked, looking adorably confused. He looked at Fred, then George, then Neville before tilting his head at Ginny. She tried to give him her best innocent look. Fred said she was getting better at it, so she hoped it was true.
“Th- the fan-club nonsense!” Malfoy shouted. “I am no member of such a ridiculous club and I would NEVER be President of it, even if I were! I very much hate you, I am not secretly pining after you OR Diggory!”
“You’re in a fan-club about me?” Harry asked, scrunching his face up in disgust. “Blimey, Malfoy, that’s taking it a bit far, don’t you think? You need a hobby, mate. I’d say quidditch, but that’s out this year. Have you tried knitting?”
“Don’t patronize me, Potter!” Malfoy shrieked, making Harry jump at the sudden volume and drawing more attention. “Stop telling people I’m in love with you! It’s a lie and you know it!”
“Ok, fine, it’s a lie.” Harry said placatingly. “I never said that, but clearly you feel pretty defensive about it. You could always just tell people I’m not your type. Neville did.”
“It’s true.” Neville shrugged. “Harry’s right, though. You’re awfully defensive about this for someone who doesn’t have a crush on him. Don’t worry, Malfoy. Your secret’s safe with us. George told me most of the club has a crush on him.”
Ginny could have kissed Neville for how he delivered his statement so calmly before smiling brightly and leading Harry into the Great Hall as Malfoy spluttered indignantly behind them. Ginny gave Neville a big hug when she sat by him and the twins sat across from them at dinner. Things were lining up quite nicely.
“So, Harry. How’d your interview go?” Ginny asked nonchalantly.
“Don’t think I don’t know you had something to do with those rumors.” Harry pointed a fork at her, but he didn’t look upset. Amused, more than anything. “It went alright, I suppose. Don’t actually know what’s gonna be printed, though. She used some sort of quick quill thing that copied things down and dramatized it all. Pretty sure I saw she had written down that I was 12, too.”
“Idiot.” Fred and George snickered.
“I know.” Harry chuckled. “Should be interesting to see how it turns out.” Harry shrugged and went back to eating, asking Neville about some Herbology homework before ending up laughing at how Seamus, once again, managed to blow something up in their Charms class.
“I swear, I didn’t do it on purpose.” Neville said, his cheeks red with embarrassment, but he was laughing, when they ended up discussing Potions. “I just … I hate the way he talks to all of us. You and me in particular. He wanted us to make the potion? Then he should have taught us something rather than swoop around all menacing like. What did he expect I would do?”
“Dunno, but I doubt it was dump your cauldron over intentionally while staring him dead in the eyes.” Harry chortled.
“Eh.” Neville shrugged, laughing again when the twins high-fived him.
Ginny was really getting annoyed that she was a year younger and not able to see their classes. She’d heard how much Snape hated both Harry and Neville, and really wanted to see it in person. More so she could hex the Slytherins for being dicks during class, but whatever. She got those in her year when they tried anything with her or Luna. Granted, Luna wasn’t supposed to be in her class since it was a Gryffindor/Slytherin class, but she often just waltzed in with Ginny and Snape never made her leave.
When the papers came out the next morning, she nearly knocked the bench she was sitting on over from laughing so hard. Harry had called the whole thing archaic and mocked wizard-kind for being stuck in the dark ages. There was a fair bit that Harry had spent asking questions about his parents since Rita apparently kept asking how he thought they’d feel. He started off each answer with, ‘considering I was in nappies when they died’ or even ‘being one year old at the time of their murders’. Rita did, in fact, print that Harry was 12. Which caused an uproar for a different reason as the world wanted to know why a child so young was allowed to compete. Owls came in all morning heading for the Head Table, let alone the Headmaster’s office. She could only speculate about how many the Ministry would be getting as well.
“It is with deep sorrow and heartbreak that I’ll never know if my dad’s hair was as untameable as mine.” Ginny said, draping herself dramatically across a sofa in the common room to her captivated audience. “I’m certain, were my mum and dad still alive to witness magical children in a death tournament, they’d have found a way for me to calm it down. I swear it has a mind of its own. I’m a bit suspicious, if it weren’t attached, that the chaos it represents would enter me in the tournament. If only to scare itself straighter.”
“I honestly don’t even remember the question she asked to get that answer.” Harry chuckled nervously, spotting the audience and Ginny’s dramatic pose.
“Shush. I’m trying to stay in character!” She hissed at him, earning a snort and small salute as he retreated to his dorm. “Where was I? Ah, yes. I found myself at a loss, dear readers, as to how this brave, somewhat delusional young man could not know of his family’s role in taming the most untameable with their Sleekeasy hair potion. My, if I were a lesser reporter I’d say our dear Harry Potter, age 12, didn’t know his own heritage!”
The gasps of the students gave Fred and George the window they needed to sneak up to Harry’s dorm. Lee was doing his best not to laugh as he held the mic steady for Ginny’s performance to go on the wireless later that evening. Ginny finished acting out Harry’s interview before moving on to some other articles by request, which Lee also recorded. That way it didn’t look like they were focused solely on the articles attacking or degrading Harry’s character alone. They were targeting all shoddy reporters for the paper, and wanted to make sure they eventually heard some of it.
The morning of the task, the twins, Neville, and Ginny, followed by a stressed Hermione, walked Harry down to the Champions tent. They all hugged Harry, George lingering a little longer, drawing a confused look from Hermione as Ginny and Neville guided her to the stands where other students were starting to show up. George seemed quite pleased with himself when he joined them and started taking bets with Fred. Ginny raised an eyebrow at him, but he just smiled back. She turned to Neville and directed her raised eyebrow at him. Neville sighed and handed her a galleon.
“What’s that for?” Hermione asked, frowning and looking between them.
“A bet.” Neville said defeatedly. “Thought they’d take longer. But, Ginny was right.”
“Course I was.” She scoffed. “Anyway, shut up. It looks like they’re ready to start. Oh! Look! The fourth year Slytherins aren’t wearing their badges anymore!”
“Well, no.” Fred snickered, coming to stand beside her. “Malfoy destroyed them all, but someone else copied his spellwork so the other houses just made their own. See? The Ravenclaw badges are a mix of supporting Delacour or Krum. Hufflepuff is pretty much all Cedric.”
“Why don’t we have them in Gryffindor, then?” Hermione asked.
“No one made them.” George shrugged, not looking concerned in the least. “We offered, but Harry just gave us his disappointed face.”
“He’s really good at that one.” Neville scrunched up his face in annoyance.
“It’s not like he wanted to do this anyway.” Ginny shrugged.
Before they could say anything else, Bagman started his announcements, which Ginny barely paid attention to. She wanted to work another bet with Neville, but he only grumbled they could talk later. Ron was standing further away from their little group with Seamus, Dean, Parvati, and Lavender. Seriously, Lavender Brown? The girl was incredibly shallow and annoying to Ginny, but she wasn’t about to talk to her brother who had abandoned his best friend over petty jealousy. Dean wasn’t so bad, so that was something, at least.
While they had all known that Harry would be facing a dragon, it was a whole different experience to watch everyone come out and face one in real life. Those things were insane and totally dangerous. Granted Charlie looked like he was having a good time, the one second she got to see him through the crowd. Harry’s turn was incredibly dramatic, as well as entertaining, though. She hugged her big brothers when the extra brooms Harry had summoned exploded in massive firework displays while he got the golden egg and made it to the exit in record time. The dragon was so confused it curled around the remaining eggs and glared at the two remaining brooms as if they were going to do something similar on their own.
Which they did.
There was a sort of timer on the fireworks, so once the others were lit, they had around a minute to sit before they ignited on their own. It was totally worth the detention, so Fred and George claimed, when Harry barreled into them with a massive smile on his face. They hoisted him up on their shoulders and walked him back to the castle after his score was read, cheering him on the whole way. Ginny and Neville cheered loudly as well, laughing when Harry blushed in embarrassment.
None of them were surprised when Ron stuttered out an apology to Harry when the party was winding down. They were slightly surprised that Harry forgave him but didn’t invite him into his planning or training, and instead asked for time to trust him again. Ginny gave him a tight hug once Ron stomped off again. Fred ruffled his hair and Neville also hugged him. George pulled Harry in, dipped him, and kissed him in front of everyone, earning more cheers and whistles. Harry’s face was bright red when he was back on his feet. He punched George playfully on the arm, though, before hugging him and hiding his face in his chest. It was completely adorable. Ginny might have cooed, but so did Fred and Neville.
“Since when is this a thing?” Hermione asked, looking shocked.
“Few weeks ago.” Ginny shrugged. “Figured it wouldn’t stay hidden for long, though.”
“I can keep secrets when I want to.” George argued, chin propped on Harry’s head.
“Yeah but this isn’t a secret, and I don’t care if anyone knows.” Harry mumbled, turning his head slightly. “Just got lucky he was interested in me.”
“Not luck.” George argued.
“Nope.” Fred, Ginny, and Neville agreed, grinning at each other while Harry rolled his eyes before turning around to face them, George still hugging him.
“Well, I’m glad you have someone. Maybe you can help some of the rest of us find courage to accept or ask a date to the ball.” Hermione sighed.
“Someone asked you?” Harry asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
“Maybe.” She conceded, looking flustered. “I just don’t want to accept and have it be a whole … spectacle.”
“We’re hosting a death tournament, Hermione.” Harry said dryly. “No matter what you do or don’t do, the whole year is already a spectacle.”
“I suppose you’re right.” She pursed her lips. “Right. Thank you for the advice, Harry. Don’t stay up too late, it’s been a crazy stressful day. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She hugged Harry before bouncing off toward the dorms.
“Krum asked her.” Ginny whispered out of the corner of her mouth. “She wants to say yes, but she’s also worried about how someone else will react.”
“Stupid.” Fred, George, Harry, and Neville said together.
She rolled her eyes and waved them off as she went to chat with her year mates and see if she could sucker them into another bet. She had pretty good knowledge on two of the four Champion’s Yule Ball dates, and was pretty certain she could figure out the others before the next two days were up. So if she bet she knew all of them already, she could certainly help make sure they happened. Not that anyone really cared about Delacour, but they were all interested in Krum and Diggory. She could work with that. Luna had hinted that Diggory was fond of a Ravenclaw, and Ginny was willing to bet blindly that it was the Seeker.
During the dance lessons, Fred and George often switched with Angelina or Harry, before they jumped in and danced with each other, along with Neville, before the whole quidditch team was dancing with other members of the team. McGonagall had only tried reining them in once, before giving up and just telling them to behave. Oliver actually got a rose from somewhere and was waltzing around with Harry with it in his mouth. Well. He was more dragging Harry along, since he was laughing so hard.
Lavender asked Ginny to dance, but it was just to ask her about the fan club and how she could join. Ginny gave her an assessing look and eventually nodded before telling her the next meeting was in two days after dinner in the Great Hall. Of course, telling Lavender something gossipy meant that the whole school would know in no time. Which meant everyone but Harry should be there. It was a lovely set up, really. Better than she could have hoped for. Considering she was planning to use the ‘club’ to more or less go after people who were using Harry’s name without his knowledge or permission. Granted she was going to make it seem like they were going after the publisher because they got some minor detail wrong or something, but whatever.
Neville asking her to the ball was a bit of a surprise, so she knew that he was probably up to something.
“Look, I just thought it would be nice if you could go. Your brothers are all going, and I mean nearly all of them. Charlie had to leave with the dragons, but I hear Bill is gonna be around to help chaperone, and Percy will probably be there too, representing the Ministry or something. Not to mention the twins and Ron.”
“So you’re asking me solely because you don’t want me to be the Weasley left out?” She narrowed her eyes at him.
“That and I want to get someone’s attention.” Neville admitted, his cheeks going pink.
“Ah. I see.” Ginny grinned. “You want me to go with you to make some poor girl jealous. Why didn’t you just say so? Of course I’ll go with you.”
“Cool. Thanks.” Neville said with a heavy sigh of relief.
“Does this mean we can do our dance?” Fred asked, popping out from behind the tapestry they were standing next to.
“Obviously.” Ginny rolled her eyes. “You two taught Harry yet?”
“Haven’t had a chance.” George sighed, stepping out and leaning against the wall while twirling his wand and eying the passersby.
“We’ll have to try and catch him either tomorrow, or after the club meeting.” Ginny hummed.
“Still can’t believe you're having one.” Neville snickered.
“As secretary of the club, it’s my duty to inform members of the meetings. And it’s not just me, WE’RE having a meeting. All of us.” Ginny said innocently. “But if Malfoy shows up, I’m almost certain someone will want to elect new leadership.”
“They all say he’s a terrible president, not doing anything to expand membership or get them involved in activities around the school.” Fred chuckled.
“Hey guys.” Harry said, smiling brightly as he walked up to them. “Feels a bit like everyone’s gone mad, doesn’t it?”
“What happened?” Ginny demanded.
“Truly embarrassing Yule ball invitations.” Harry chuckled. “Fleur asked a Ravenclaw boy and he nearly fainted. The Patil twins, and Lavender, cornered Seamus, Dean, and Cormac to ask them to take them. Seamus looked disgusted, but Cormac seemed pretty happy about it. Git.”
“No word on Ron asking anyone yet, then?” George asked, head tilted curiously.
“Nah, I honestly think he’s gonna be either dateless, or go with someone at the last minute.” Harry shrugged. “So,” Harry dug out an apple and bit into it, “should I head off so I’m not interrupting your plotting?”
“We can multitask.” Ginny shrugged. “Oh, but since you are here, and we have some time, we have something to teach you.”
“I feel like I should be more worried than I am.” Harry pointed at her with his half eaten apple. “I think there’s a classroom down here that isn’t in use. We could borrow it for a bit?”
“This is gonna be epic.” Neville said happily, walking with the group down the corridor.
Once Harry was done laughing, again, he learned the dance pretty quickly. They were probably going to cause a riot or something, but it would totally be worth it. Especially since Harry was so entertained. Fred had even gotten them muggle sunglasses somehow. And if Neville, Fred, and Ginny all buggered off to dinner a bit early, leaving Harry and George alone for a bit, then that was their prerogative. Besides, Harry being all smiley melted everyone’s cold exterior. He was so broody in the past when the school turned on him, but Ginny was not gonna let it happen ever again. Nor were her brothers. Not if they could prevent it.
“Right, looks like the President is fashionably late. Again.” Ginny sighed dramatically, as the crowd for the fan-club meeting quieted down. “Let’s get started then, shall we? He’ll turn up eventually. Probably.” She waved her hand as if it didn’t matter and were a totally normal occurrence. “First order of business is membership. We’ve got quite a lot of new faces today. Neville, what are we looking at for club dues and such?”
“For those newer to the club, membership is three knuts annually. We hold a few fundraisers now and then, so everyone works those. Our next goal was working to raise money for new brooms for the first year flying class. The Board of governors requested the funds, but were told there weren’t any available. As you’re all aware, flying is the favorite activity of our chosen celebrity, and it’s really a disservice to his favorite pastime to have such poor quality equipment.”
There was a low murmur of agreement from everyone.
“I can have a booth out during the next task?” Dean offered, holding his hand up. “We’ll get some of the quidditch players in on it, too.”
“Do you want to work out the roster of workers on your own, or should we do a sign-up sheet?” Neville asked, looking as serious as he could, but his lips were twitching like he was fighting a smile.
“Anyone interested can sign up with me. I’ll need help constructing the booth, as well as using one of the current brooms for a guide on what we’re trying to improve on.”
“I can talk to Madam Hooch.” Angelina piped up from beside Katie and Alicia. “She loves me.”
“Can we do a snack booth or something?” Ron asked, flushing when everyone looked at him. “What? They sell snacks and things at professional events, and adults are coming in to watch as well.”
“Good point.” Ginny nodded. “Ron, you and Hermione can work with the elves and see what they want to set up. See what they want the donations to go to, because we all know they’ll see being paid for their food as an offense.”
“Can we vote on new leadership since the President isn’t here?” Luna asked sweetly.
“We have elections planned for March, if that works for everyone?” George offered.
“Just make sure you talk to who you're nominating and that they campaign subtly.” Ginny added, looking at everyone sternly. “If he finds out he’s losing his position he may not send in our club registration out of spite.”
“Speaking of,” Fred piped in, “we’ll have forms passed out at the end of the meeting so you can make sure you register with the club officially. The fees are due by end of January.”
“Second order of business,” Ginny said, flipping a page in her notebook that was really just a bunch of doodles that Luna had done, “the Harry Potter Adventure book series. Now I know we all loved the books when we were younger, some still do. However there’s a lot of errors. I know I’m not alone in noticing that Harry doesn’t have a clue about 99% of their content. Which makes them completely fiction, not based on any real event. My primary question, is who gave someone permission to use the boy-who-lived’s name as a fictional character? I mean, surely there were a hundred other names they could have chosen even just referencing him. Instead, they used his actual birth name.”
“I did some digging on that.” Susan Bones said, standing up. “I got an insane run-around about who gave who permission, but the general conclusion is that no one had permission, and no one intervened. Not even Potter’s magical guardian. I’ve got everything drawn up for Potter to sign, should he wish to pursue the lawsuit I’ve put together with a small bit of help from some people in the DMLE.”
“Excellent.” Ginny nodded magnanimously. “Neville can set up a meeting for you to go over that with him. That or trick him into signing for his own good.”
“We’d also like to start a petition banning books like that, along with those Lockhart atrocities, due to their erroneous or fictitious content, from being presented as reference materials in classes. Until the lawsuit is completed, anyway.” Hannah Abbott pitched in.
“Let’s tweak that a bit.” Ginny said thoughtfully. “The Lockhart books do have some useful spells, especially the household pests set, but there needs to be a disclaimer that he stole those spells and the events from other witches and wizards. Those people should be compensated and acknowledged.”
“Agreed.” Several people chorused.
“That’s all we planned to cover tonight, so I’ll open the floor for further discussions.” Ginny waved her hand and a few people stood up, making a line in front of where her, Fred, George, and Neville were sitting.
“What, exactly, are each of your roles?” Parvati Patil asked, from where she muscled her way to the front of the line.
“I’m secretary,” Ginny said, “Neville is Vice President, Fred is Treasurer, and George is our Logistics officer. Obviously that leaves Malfoy as President, but we have a few other positions we’ve been unable to fill due to lack of interest. We didn’t realize our President hadn’t been advertising participation. On your forms for membership, you’ll notice a complete list of the positions we are looking to fill by election time, as well as recommendations for our various replacements, should you see fit to elect someone else into our spots.”
There were several more questions that they eventually had to shut down and ask people to write down on the backs of their membership forms for them to review once they were turned in. They’d started the whole thing as a joke, but they’d actually gotten the club sanctioned through the Board as a student support group. It was 20 sickles to get started, but Harry had handed over the fee without even being asked. He’d apparently seen the paperwork in Neville’s things and just gave it to him.
“Why me?” Harry groaned as Ginny dragged him along the road to Hogsmeade after the twins ran a distraction so they could sneak out.
“Because I am not wearing what mum deems appropriate, dressing me up like a little girl at an imaginary tea party and you are not wearing the blandest, most boring dress robes I’ve ever seen as a school Champion, let alone my friend who’s dating my brother. You show up in those, and Fred and George will take turns spelling them different colors and patterns worse than Dumbledore would wear.” Ginny argued, tugging his arm along when he dragged his feet.
“They are pretty dull.” Harry sighed, finally stopping fighting her and walking normally. “But I don’t want anything crazy bright. What color dress did your mum get you anyway?”
“Pink.” Ginny groaned.
“With your guys’ hair and pale skin?” Harry snickered. “Christ, it’s like she wants you to look like a vampire or something.”
“I know! Which is why you’re going to help me and I’m going to help you. You can always give the dress robes you have that you’re not going to wear to Ron. If you want. I wouldn’t, because I think he’s a tosser, but you’re not one to hold grudges. Mum sent him a set that’s at least a century old. There are, honest to Merlin, frills and lace on them.”
“Hm. I’ll hold them off until the last possible second, so he’s already dressed, having to hurriedly change before showing up.” Harry hummed.
“Brilliant.” Ginny laughed, opening the door to the little shop when they got to town.
“Ok, now those would be awesome.” Harry said, walking straight to a set that was dark green with black and gold damask patterns all over. “These actually look fun to wear.”
“Try ‘em on.” Ginny encouraged. “Oh, do these, too.” She grabbed a set that was mostly black with some shinier material, satin from the feel, along the lapel. “You could do a colored satin shirt underneath that matches your eyes and …” she looked around and spotted the perfect shoes, “ok, these too.”
“Chuck Taylors?” Harry asked with a grin. They had black soles with a material that shifted between the different House colors of Hogwarts.
“Anything else and your feet will be killing you. Look, I’ll get these so we can match.” She grabbed a set that was all white and very sparkly. She also didn’t mention he needed new shoes anyway since the one's he was wearing were barely held together by spells and spellotape.
“Cool.” Harry agreed, following the shop witch that wandered over and took the clothes to a dressing room. “Grab that black dress, Gin. And the gray one with the firework-looking designs.”
“Good eye, Potter.” She chuckled, picking up the dresses that he’d called out about and heading into the cubicle next to him. “So does this mean we can go shopping together again and I won’t have to drag you out?” She asked, changing into the first dress.
“Sure, but you guys will probably have to keep the clothes for me so my relatives don’t trash them or sell them off or, ya know, burn them out of spite.”
“Hm.” Ginny hummed, stepping out. “Hey, I need your help with the zip.”
“Sure.” Harry walked out and pulled it up for her before she turned and got a good look at him. “Who-ho-hoa.” She teased. “Looking dashing, Mr. Potter.”
“Thanks.” Harry chuckled, ducking his head bashfully. “Honestly, I might get both of these. They feel great. You look good, too. But you sure you can afford this?”
“I’ve been saving up a bit. I have enough for one splurge purchase from the bets I’ve been winning. Enough to cover the dress and shoes for sure.”
“Alright, option two.” Harry said, going back in after helping Ginny unzip a bit so she could get out of it. She was kind of torn. The black dress was long with a slight a-line in the front so she wouldn’t trip over it, but the gray one was more comfortable, being high-necked, haltered, so that her arms were free but covered her chest entirely. There were little fireworks animated over it in gold and white. The shoes that she had picked out seemed to match it better, too.
“Ok, I’m going with this one.” Ginny said, stepping out and finding Harry already waiting, whistling as he looked her up and down.
“Definitely fits you better.” Harry agreed.
“I think I like the dark robes and green shirt for the ball over the green and black robes with a black shirt.” Ginny added, looking Harry up and down as well. They circled each other and turned around a few times in front of a mirror to get the full view. “You should do a burnished gold sort of tie piece, though. It’ll match the earring that Bill and Charlie managed to convince you to get.”
“It looked cool on them. And I like having it.” Harry flushed, smiling and touching his ear, though, as the shop witch brought the tie over that Ginny suggested.
“The long one.” Ginny nodded along with the witch who waved her wand as it settled and tied itself. “Perfect.”
“The shoes you chose can change the sole to match the tie.” The witch added, tapping the tie with her wand and then tapping the sole of Harry’s shoe. He laughed delightedly when they changed to match.
“We’ll take them.” Harry said cheerfully. “Blimey, this was great. So much better than shopping for school uniforms.”
“No doubt.” Ginny chuckled, bumping her fist with him as they went to change back.
It didn’t take long to check out and then they both shared a look before going into the salon that was on the main street. Ginny got a trim, nothing much, but enough that Harry felt more comfortable doing what he wanted. Which was taking a hair growth potion and letting his hair get trimmed down a bit. When it was longer, it actually lay more naturally and didn’t stick up like crazy. It hung just barely touching his shoulders by the time it was all trimmed up to his liking. He put it up in a somewhat messy bun with Ginny’s help before they paid and headed out again. Ginny took him into an eye shop and had him get a new pair of glasses. The dragon-horn rimmed frames made Harry look much more distinguished and Ginny blushed. It was a completely involuntary reaction and she wished she could control her hormones a bit better.
“Are they bad?” Harry asked anxiously, watching her reaction.
“No.” She snorted, finally finding her words again. “You look hot as shit.” She admitted, making him bark out a laugh and blush as well. “George isn’t gonna be able to keep his hands off you.”
“I’m good with that.” Harry said happily, blushing darker.
They stopped for a bite to eat at Broomsticks, grabbing a few sweets to pay Neville and the twins off for covering for them before heading back. Ginny watched delightedly as several people tripped or ran into walls when they walked the corridors back to the tower as they saw Harry. Harry, of course, didn’t notice, too content with his candy. Not that he ever noticed people looking at him because they thought he was attractive and not because he was ‘Harry Potter’.
“Hey guys!” Harry waved excitedly upon spotting the twins, Neville, and Hermione in their usual corner. Even Hermione flushed with wide eyes as they got closer. “Hope you didn’t cause too much trouble for us.”
“Nope.” George’s voice squeaked and not even Fred harassed him, still staring at Harry’s new look.
“Damn.” Fred finally said, tossing a coin to Neville who smiled proudly. “You’re officially the hottest Gryffindor, mate.”
“What?” Harry asked, tilting his head adorably confused.
“Go put your stuff away, Harry.” Ginny said, giving him a small nudge. Once he was leaving she turned and raised an eyebrow at George and jerked her head toward the dorms. George pursed his lips before saluting her and hurrying after Harry. “Here you are.” Ginny handed out the candy and jokes that the twins and Neville requested.
“How’d you convince him to get new glasses?” Neville asked, eating one of his licorice wands.
“Just dragged him in.” Ginny shrugged. “Wasn’t hard, actually. AND he agreed to shopping with me again as long as we hold onto the new clothes for him so his relatives don’t see them or anything.”
“Eh,” Fred shrugged, eating a chocolate frog, “we’re getting him an expandable, practically indestructible, pouch for things to keep safe that’s keyed to him so no one else can get in for Yule.”
“When did my best friend get so attractive?” Hermione asked, fanning her face.
“When he discovered this fancy thing called self-worth.” Neville said, snickering at her. “He’s always had shit self-esteem and self-worth, worse than me, but we’re working on it. It’s the confidence, I think. Carries himself differently, not trying to appear small and unnoticed anymore.”
“Hermione, let’s go fuss over our outfits and decide what we’re doing with our hair for the ball.” Ginny said, holding a hand out for her to take since she looked like she was still in a bit of a crisis at realizing Harry was actually hot. Not that Ginny could relate, because she’d always thought Harry was cute before the earring and hairstyle and new glasses.
“Colin’s getting pictures for us before we go down tomorrow.” Neville called after them as they headed for the girls’ dorms.
“For a fee!” Colin shouted across the room, making several people snicker.
“I think you should try some of this.” Ginny set her bag down and handed the hair potion she’d convinced Harry to purchase for Hermione. “It’ll take your hair from bushy to lovely curls. I’ll show you.”
“Yeah, alright.” Hermione nodded, following Ginny to the girls bathroom. Angelina and Katie found them and helped out since Hermione had a lot of hair.
“Ginny!” Harry called from the boys’ dorm a few hours before they were heading down.
“What?” She yelled back, grabbing another few sandwiches, planning to take them up to the room with her.
“I need your help!” Harry called back. She rolled her eyes and headed up, walking in and finding Neville watching with exasperation as Harry tried to brush his hair. “I got the brush stuck.” He whined pitifully.
“Yeah, I’ve done that before.” Ginny chuckled, setting the plate on Harry’s bed and forcing him to sit down so she could work the hair that had tangled out of the brush. When she got it, she braided a few small pieces and tucked them back into a more sophisticated bun than he had the day before. “What do you think, Nev?”
“Tug this strand down.” Neville suggested, touching one of the braids at the front. Ginny carefully pulled it out and let it hang so it framed Harry’s face a bit. “Yeah, that’s it.”
“Good eye.” Ginny agreed. “Now don’t fuck it up before we have to be down there.” She pointed at Harry.
“Definitely will not.” Harry nodded certainly. “Thanks, Gin!”
“Uh huh, eat those, I’ll get another plate.” She pointed to the sandwiches and headed back down, grabbing another plate like she said she would.
“How’s he lookin’?” Fred asked, leaning against the wall.
“Better, now.” Ginny shrugged. “George might faint, though, once he’s all dressed up. Make sure Colin gets a picture of his reaction.”
“Not gonna help you blackmail my twin.” Fred rolled his eyes. “Should have asked Neville or Dean or someone for that.”
“Fair.” Ginny accepted. “Make sure they both know that there are undoubtedly going to be teachers patrolling the corridors, empty classrooms, all that, so they aren’t caught in a compromising position.”
“Ginny! Want to get one last reading in before the festivities really kick off?” Lee asked, joining them and stuffing half a sandwich in his mouth. After their early successes, Lee had taken to the recordings with crazy enthusiasm.
“Sure.” She agreed, following him over to a chair where a few papers were set aside. “You know,” Ginny said just loud enough that she knew Lavender was paying attention, even if the girl didn’t look at her, “I’m honestly starting to get a bit worried about how invested these reporters are in the romantic lives of underage witches and wizards. You would think in the 90’s there would be some sort of discretion used when publishing this sort of thing. It’s almost like they’re trying to incite feuds or arguments between families that still set up marriage contracts and such. Can’t be good for the families or politics if everyone is so focused on who their children fancy.”
She smirked as Lavender’s eyes went wide and she rushed across the room, dragging Parvati out through the portrait hole with her. Lee snorted but set up his mic anyway so she could read a few passages. When he got what they wanted to record done, they headed to get ready. Ginny pulled on the shawl that tied over her shoulders that matched her sneakers before descending the steps and meeting her brothers, (aside from Ron) Neville, and Angelina who looked brilliant in her deep red robes. Fred’s gold robes made them look like the power couple of Gryffindor, almost. Until Harry came down and George fell against Neville with his jaw dropped and his face going red.
“Well done, Gin.” Neville said, snickering as he pushed George away and toward Harry.
“Wasn’t even me.” Ginny shrugged. “He has good taste when he feels free to choose what he wants.”
“Oh, blimey.” Fred laughed as George was practically suffocating Harry by kissing him so firmly.
“Oi! Picture first!” Angelina shouted, shooting off a few sparks over their heads, fighting not to laugh like Fred.
“Sorry! Sorry.” George said, finally stepping back a bit. Not much, but enough that he was no longer attempting to merge with Harry.
“I’m not.” Harry chuckled, looking a little stunned but quite happy with the reaction. “Right. Picture!”
“I’m not really sorry, but thought it was appropriate to apologize anyway.” George grinned. “Obviously you look amazing.”
“Not so bad yourself.” Harry said, looking George up and down with a mischievous look in his eyes.
“Alright, get together everyone.” Colin said, holding his camera up and waving so they all got closer together. “Say ‘Gryffindor’!”
“Gryffindor!” They all exclaimed, smiling as Colin snapped their photo.
“Brilliant! I’ll get you copies after new year.”
“Thanks, Colin!” They called, heading out and descending the stairs together.
“So?” Ginny asked, walking near Harry.
“Yeah, I left them on his bed when he went to change.” Harry chuckled. “We’ll see what he does.”
“You’re a saint, Harry Potter.” Ginny sighed disappointedly, smirking when Harry cracked up laughing.
“Nah, just don’t want to see something so horrible out of the corner of my eye all night. You completely under-sold how awful they were.”
“Mr. Potter! There you are!” McGonagall called once they reached the entrance hall.
“Yup.” Harry grinned happily.
“Please, do not make this an unbearable spectacle.” She pointed at George, though.
“I’m wounded, Professor.” George said in mock disappointment.
“We’d never do such a thing.” Fred added.
“It’s like you think we go looking for mischief.” Harry agreed.
“When really it just always finds us.” Neville added.
“Oh, no, not you as well, Mr. Longbottom.” McGonagall sighed defeatedly, pinching the bridge of her nose.
“We’ve no idea what you’re referring to, Professor.” Ginny said innocently.
“Let’s go sit down before you lot drive her to drink so early in the evening.” Angelina said, snickering as she tugged Fred to the hall, Neville and Ginny following along.
“Should I be worried about being shown up?” Cedric asked, sidling up to Harry and George before Ginny was fully inside.
“Naturally.” Harry and George responded, snorting and laughing when Cedric rolled his eyes, smiling when Cho Chang laughed in amusement.
“This is going to be a great night.” Ginny said as they reached their assigned table.
“Absolutely.” Fred, Angelina, and Neville agreed.
Watching the Champions enter was really great. They cheered politely when the Beauxbaton and Durmstrang Champions walked in, but whistled and hollered when the Hogwarts Champions walked by. Harry even had his head held high and was smiling crookedly while George strutted along beside him. Cedric and Cho were struggling to keep straight faces, but kept looking at each other and giggling at the noise because of Harry and George.
It was really nice to see Harry happy and confident. The whole club was cheering loudly for him. Dinner was good, as was the conversation that came easily for everyone at the table. Ginny wasn’t even bothered by the frowns she kept getting from Percy who somehow ended up at the table with the Champions. Bill kept shooting her subtle thumbs up, though, so she figured she was good.
Then the Champions were up and ready to dance. Harry standing on George’s feet, laughing at something George whispered to him. He laughed even louder when George lifted him in a twirl, but he was smiling the whole time like a love-struck idiot. Which was fair. She supposed he was a love-struck idiot, but so was George.
Before anyone else could get up for the next dance, her, Fred, and Neville got up and rushed to the floor while George and Harry put their sunglasses on. The Champions moved to the side, watching them interestedly. Ginny and Neville were next to each other with Harry ducked behind them; Fred and George were on either end before they strutted to the center of the floor, stepping to the side as Harry slid to the middle between them all so he was front and center, grinning when he stopped. It was a short dance, but it was a lot of fun and got a lot of cheers from everyone, including Durmstang who rushed out and joined in along with several other kids from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff.
“I’m retiring!” McGonagall shouted, throwing her hands up and shaking her head, making Harry laugh delightedly. “I WILL NOT live through the second coming of the Marauders!”
“But Professor!” Harry shouted back, still smiling crookedly, “that’s my legacy!”
“You are NOT retiring and leaving me with them alone, Minerva!” Snape practically demanded, appearing next to McGonagall.
“Fine. We’ll both retire.” She said certainly, walking away with Snape following after her.
“Who are the Marauders?” Ginny asked curiously.
“Dad and his friends from their school days.” Harry shrugged, yelping when George picked him up and held him facing him and Fred.
“Explain!” They demanded.
“Dad was Prongs.” Harry said with a cheeky grin. “Padfoot’s my godfather. Lupin should really be obvious, in that group, so should Wormtail.”
“Merlin.” They breathed, looking at each other with wide eyes.
“Just Harry is fine.” Harry retorted happily. “Come on! Let’s dance! You can interrogate me about them later!”
“Later.” They agreed, finally moving again with the crowd instead of standing still in the middle of the dance floor.
Ginny danced with Neville for a bit before switching places with a Hufflepuff girl who had been watching them somewhat wistfully. It took her and Neville a minute before they registered that Ginny had even moved and was dancing with one of the Beauxbaton boys. They both blushed, but smiled shyly, continuing to dance. She spotted Harry and George stumbling away with Krum and Hermione to get drinks, but Hermione stopped to talk to Ron while Harry and George were glued together, their hands tangled between them as they giggled. She crinkled her nose and hoped she wasn’t so mushy when she got a boyfriend.
“They’re honestly adorable together.” Bill said, catching up to her at the edge of the dance floor.
“It’s sickening how adorable it is.” Ginny agreed. “Having fun?”
“It’s weird being back, but it’s not so bad.” Bill shrugged. “Kind of glad I was out already by the time the twins got this mischievous, though.”
“Neville and Harry only seem to bring it out more, but this year is more my fault than anything.” Ginny chuckled. “Sort of dragged them along to help Harry out and now we’re just one big team, I guess.”
“It’s cool. And from what you all have said in passing, he needs the support.”
“He really does. I just wish,” Ginny looked over at her brother for a minute, biting her lips to stop.
“What?” Bill asked curiously.
“Well. It’s not really my place to say.” She said, wondering if she should sic her big brother on the Dursleys or not. Harry’s bright laughter across the room made her decision though. He was her friend and he deserved to be happy more often. “I dunno. I guess I just wish he could be this happy all the time instead of halfway through term and for only short periods. He’s always so skinny, sickly skinny, when he comes back in the Autumn. And he’s talked about wanting to stay every year over the summers. He doesn’t eat as much toward the end of term and usually puts some things in his trunk or bag that he can save to eat at some point. Almost like they’re starving him. Did you know that Ron, Fred, and George said they rescued him from his relatives before my first year?”
“No. They didn’t say anything to me, but I wasn’t around much back then, being in Egypt.” Bill frowned and looked over and she could see him assessing Harry now, not just watching his brother and his date. “He is rather small.”
“He helped me pick out this dress.” Ginny said in a quieter voice. “I asked if he wanted to shop again together, but he said his relatives would burn the clothes if he brought new stuff home.”
“What does he usually wear?” Bill frowned deeper.
“His uniform, mostly.” Neville said, joining them after waving to the Hufflepuff girl. “The personal clothes he brings are at least three or four sizes too big. Pretty sure they’re either hand me downs or something he pulled out of a bin. Which I don’t need to tell you is a very bad impression for an Heir to make.”
“He has the money for clothing that fits.” Bill looked between them. “Does he know he’s an heir?”
“No.” Neville shook his head. “Look, don’t go messing in his life unless you are sure you can actually affect anything, yeah? Don’t go talking to him about it because he won’t tell you anything. He never talks about anything outside of school. He doesn’t know he has a magical guardian, either, let alone who it is. He’s never had any of the supplemental materials all the other muggle-born kids get. I’m not saying you shouldn’t look into it, you’re an adult and can do whatever you want. But don’t say anything to him, if you do. Don’t give him hope. It’ll crush him when it doesn’t work out. Sorry for barging in. Just getting some drinks. Let me know when you’re ready to go, Gin.”
“Sure.” She nodded, giving him a small smile and waving him off.
“You all are saying things like he’s abused in his home.” Bill said in a low voice when Neville was gone.
“I don’t think he gets hit from anyone aside from his cousin.” Ginny said thoughtfully.
“So you’re just implying he’s starved.” Bill hummed. “And being kept ignorant of his heirship.”
“Among other things.” Fred added, joining them by swinging an arm over Bill’s shoulders. “Harry’s gone through a lot of shit. We finally got him to start acting like a normal teenage boy, though. Can we let him enjoy it for a bit? Death tournament aside, obviously. Just … he’s happy right now. So’s George.”
“Yeah.” Bill and Ginny sighed, watching George and Harry sneak out while Hermione huffed away from Ron to meet Krum closer to the drinks table looking annoyed.
Ginny eventually rejoined the dancing with the girls from the quidditch team, Fred joining too. Neville and Hannah Abbott, as she’d been introduced, joined them as well. Ginny glanced at the Hourglasses before leaving snickering when there were a lot of points taken from each House, but Gryffindor had dropped drastically. She shared a look with Fred and Neville before they were all laughing knowing that Harry and George had gotten caught somewhere.
“I need your help.” Harry said agitatedly when they were walking to dinner a few days before the second task.
“Alright.” Ginny shrugged, the twins redirecting them to a corridor she didn’t recognize. Neville seemed to, though. Theoretically, Ginny knew there was a secret passage to the kitchens. Now, thanks to her brothers, she knew where it was. They all sat at a table by the fire while the elves were busy preparing to send the evening meal up, aside from the few dishes they kept aside for their group.
“The next task.” Harry said, biting at his thumb, pushing food around on his plate, “it’s in the Black Lake.”
“In February?” Neville asked incredulously.
“The clue was a song in Mermish that could be translated when the egg was submerged under water.” Harry nodded.
“So what do you need?” Fred asked carefully.
“I don’t-” Harry groaned and tugged on his hair before letting go and putting his hands flat on the table and whispering, “I don’t know how to swim.”
“Can you tell us the clue?” Ginny asked gently.
“Come seek us where our voices sound, we cannot sing above the ground. An hour long you’ll have to look, to discover what we took.” Harry said flatly. “Something valuable is going to be taken from each of us and hidden in the lake. We have an hour to find it. I don’t know the Charms to breathe underwater. I’m not an Animagus, and I’m not far enough in school to be able to do animal transfigurations. And I only have three days to figure it out.”
“That’s alright, Har.” George said softly, putting his hand over Harry’s. “We-”
“Gillyweed.” Neville said, snapping his fingers and looking at Harry with wide eyes. “It doesn’t matter if you can swim or not, then. The plant transforms you temporarily. Gives you gills and flippers for feet and whatnot. You can maneuver your arms however you need to move and kick to push you forward. We don’t have anywhere we can teach you to swim, let alone have these two teach you the other charms.”
“Brilliant.” Fred and George said with bright smiles.
“Ok, but do you have some?” Harry asked quietly, looking at them hopefully.
“We will.” Fred and George agreed certainly.
“You get it, give it to me or Nev so we can pass it off.” Ginny nodded.
“You’ll have it by breakfast.” Fred promised.
“We’ll get some for more than an hour, though. Just in case.” George added.
“It’s not going to be exact figuring out how much since there’s too much debate between saltwater and freshwater and how it affects the digested plant.” Neville commented idly.
“Any idea what they’ll take?” Ginny asked.
“Not a clue.” Harry shrugged. “I’ve got all of three family heirlooms in my trunk, so I don’t know.”
“Wonder whose bright idea it was to do an underwater task?” Neville tilted his head. “I mean, how are we meant to watch or see what happens? What about the judges? Pretty sure Dumbledore is the only one who can actually speak to the Merpeople.”
“You don’t think they’d set this up with no way to watch, do you?” Ginny frowned.
“Harry was able to be entered, to participate, and no one investigated.” Neville said, giving her an unimpressed look.
“No need to be snarky, Longbottom.” She grumbled.
“Think there’s a way to make it viewable?” Neville asked, looking at Fred and George.
“You know, I think there might be.” George said slowly.
“It’ll cost us.” Fred wobbled his head.
“Nothing we can’t handle.” George shrugged.
“What sort of cost?” Harry asked, picking his fork back up and eating a little.
“Charms, potions, spells, that sort of thing.” George answered.
“Want me to braid your hair before?” Ginny offered.
“Oh, yeah, that’d probably help. Keep it out of my face so I can actually see. Should probably tie my glasses to my face.” Harry touched the few hairs that were hanging by his face that had come out of the bun he’d messed up from his stress.
“Here.” Fred handed him a strange looking band. “We started working on these because dad is always losing his glasses, and Percy’s we always moved around when he left them sitting somewhere, but we could use someone to test them while they’re submerged.”
“Yeah, alright.” Harry nodded, stuffing it in his pocket.
Harry seemed to pretty much melt in relief after they said they could help. He slumped over George’s back when they went back to the tower, his energy apparently gone. Neville took him up to the dorm and came back to the common room for a bit. Ginny gave the twins the distraction they needed after Neville gave them Harry’s map, by doing more dramatic recitings of news articles. Rita was writing about some perverted imagined love triangle between Harry, Hermione, and Neville, which took a lot of effort for Ginny to read without laughing hysterically.
She didn’t see her brothers again before going to bed, but Neville was lounged on the sofa, determined to wait for them. She saluted him before going to her dorm. Neville might be the better option to hold the gillyweed, since he was at least in the same dorm as Harry and would be walking down with him. Ginny had to be at the lake early to make sure the booths the others were setting up were good to go. She was honestly having a lot of fun with the fan club turned student support organization. Hermione had told her they functioned a lot like student government, like she’d seen in her muggle schools and talked to her cousins about.
Fred and George were meant to meet her before the task started since they were running the bets. But Fred was frantic when she got there. And alone.
“No bloody way.” She whispered with wide eyes.
“He was called to the Headmaster’s office last night. Just him.” Fred said, biting at his thumb like Harry did. “He never came back to the dorm. Luna said Cho did the same.”
“Have either of you seen Hermione?” Ron asked, wringing his hands together. “She was meant to be helping me with the food stand so the donations were labeled correctly, along with a list of what the money would be helping with.”
“George for Harry.” Ginny said, looking between her brothers, “and Hermione for Krum. They’re both down there and Harry has no idea.”
“Why would Hermione be for Krum, though?” Ron asked, scratching his head. “They’ve only known each other a few months. Isn’t his brother here or something?”
“Yeah, but having George and Hermione both there will definitely throw Harry off enough he’ll want to make sure they’re both rescued.” Fred said, eyes flitting between the castle and the lake where the crowd was starting to gather. “We just have to hope that these dicks have a plan to get anyone still down there after the task. Otherwise-”
“Otherwise Harry will stay put and play the hero, not that that’s how he sees it.” Ginny agreed, starting to get anxious as well. “Alright, erm, see if Colin or Dennis can help you for now, Ron. When Neville gets here he can help with bets, unless you want to tag Angelina, Alicia, and Katie in for it, Fred?”
“I’ll tag the girls in.” Fred said quickly. “I won’t be able to do it while George is …” He waved over to the lake. “We’ve never been separated like this before.”
“We know.” Ginny and Ron said together gently.
“I’ll take care of the booth, but can you let me know as soon as everyone’s good?” Ron asked.
“Yeah, I’ll send that Nigel kid or some other first year.” Ginny agreed.
Harry was toying with a necklace that he was wearing on the platform. George gave it to him after the ball. He’d made a matching set that let the other know, by subtly warming up, when the other was touching theirs. George made an H for himself and a G for Harry. Fred and Ginny clasped hands as Harry shoved the gillyweed in his mouth and practically fell in the water when the canon went off. An image appeared above the water, one for each Champion, following their progress.
“Oh no, he’s the first there.” Ginny groaned quietly as Harry’s images showed four people floating in the water.
“Beauxbaton is out.” Fred groaned, pointing out that Delacour was caught by a whole swarm of grindylows. There was no way Ginny would have wanted to try her luck in the other girl’s place. “Shit.”
“There’s Cho rescued.” Ginny said softly. Cedric tapped his watch with his wand while looking at Harry who was just holding onto George and floating with him. After a little while longer, Krum showed up, half transfigured, and grabbed Hermione before swimming off. Then it was just Harry, George, and a girl that was young enough to be a first year from Beauxbaton.
Fred and Ginny held each other’s hands tighter when Harry managed to get the girl and George most of the way back before the grindylows caught up to them. Harry heaved and George and the girl floated upward while he was dragged down. Ginny and Fred didn’t wait, they rushed down to the platform once George’s head broke the water and Delacour dove back in, heading for the girl. When they got there, George was holding Harry up so he could be pulled up on the platform. Harry collapsed and basically puked up half the lake.
“You alright?” Fred asked George anxiously, touching his arm.
“Yeah. Freezing, but alright.” George nodded, his teeth starting the chatter.
“I don’t think I ever want to swim again.” Harry croaked, spitting out one last mouthful of water, nearly falling over from how hard he was shivering.
“Come on, let’s get you somewhere warm while the judges deliberate.” Ginny encouraged. Neville helped Harry up, and Fred helped George. Delacour rushed over, hugging Harry and kissing his cheeks, saying something vaguely in English about saving her little sister before running off again.
Harry stumbled so much that Neville grunted and hefted him over his shoulder, carrying him the rest of the way. He didn’t even argue, so Ginny could tell he was nearing hypothermia. It wasn’t a long walk, but Harry had stopped shivering at some point and gone practically boneless, which Ginny knew was very bad, and Neville was trying to run with him over his shoulder. He set Harry down, but his eyes were closed and his lips were blue. George fumbled for his necklace and touched it. Ginny could actually see the skin around the G on Harry’s neck pink slightly from the warmth.
“Move! Out of the way!” Madam Pomfrey shouted, rushing over and running her wand over Harry, exclaiming angrily and banishing potions to his stomach instead of trying to wake him to swallow them, before smothering him, like all the others, in blankets. George stripped out of his hoodie, dried it, dried his and Harry’s clothes, and shuffled the shirt over Harry’s head before pulling him against his chest. Neville and Ginny took Harry’s legs and rubbed them gently, trying to warm them while Fred rubbed George’s back since his lips were still slightly blue.
Harry gasped as his eyes flew open, jolting and groaning as his entire body looked to have locked up, all of his muscles going tense. They kept rubbing his arms and legs, helping him to relax until he was leaning entirely on George to stay upright and breathing somewhat raggedly. His color was coming back, though. He was shivering again, but it was something they could fix with a warm fire and hot chocolate.
Getting second place by virtue, wasn’t all that unexpected, but none of them were in the celebrating mood when they were still so cold and frayed from anxious nerves. They sent George and Harry through a quick shower before smothering them on the sofa in front of the fire. Fred on George’s side, Ginny and Neville on Harry’s, while Ron and Hermione sat on the floor by their feet.
“I’ll never look at the lake the same again.” Harry huffed in annoyance. Ginny pursed her lips, but then Neville snorted, then they were all giggling like idiots. Harry just smiled, though. Not having the energy to laugh.
“Dunno how Bob handles it down there.” George added.
“Who’s Bob?” Ron asked, snickering.
“The squid.” Fred, George, and Harry all answered.
“Of course.” Ron chuckled. “My mistake.”
“I don’t know about you guys, but I definitely didn’t fancy being a part of any of this.” Hermione grumbled, snuggling further into her blanket.
“Me neither.” Harry sighed, leaning his head over on George’s shoulder, which wasn’t hard to do since he was so close to him. “Should probably go to bed so we don’t all fall asleep here and wake up with cricked necks or something, though.”
“Yeah.” They all sighed, not moving.
They sat together for another half an hour before they got up and went to bed. Ginny noticed that Harry was dragged up to Fred and George’s room, but she wasn’t surprised and knew nothing was going to happen aside from ridiculously adorable cuddling. She was expecting Neville to go up at some point, too, since he’d been carrying Harry when he’d been so bad off. None of them slept well that night. Harry was practically glued to George for the day after, and Neville was glued to Harry. Fred hovered and was also constantly touching his twin. Not more than usual, really, but it made classes that day difficult until McGonagall gave the five of them passes to stay in the common room and allowed their classmates to pick up their assignments.
“So, in the grand scheme of it all, how psychotic is Moody?” Ginny asked, sitting upside down on the sofa in sweatpants she’d stolen from one of her brothers.
“Harry does alright, from what we were told.” Fred shrugged. “But he is really out there. Pretty sure 90 percent of what he’s doing is illegal or close to.”
“He’s using Unforgivables in a classroom.” Neville said flatly, giving them all unimpressed looks. “Nearly had panic induced dissociation the first day with him.”
“I did dissociate.” Harry murmured, stretched out between George and Ginny. He had a leg hanging over George’s lap, one over the back cushion, and his head on Neville’s shoulder since he was sitting on the floor. He looked like a starfish. An exhausted, pale, grumpy starfish.
“I know it’s good for us to know them and all,” George said, rubbing Harry’s ankle absently, “but he really should have known better than to show those things to kids who were around for the last war.”
“Does he do the weird tongue thing in your classes too?” Harry asked curiously.
“The what?” Ginny frowned, looking over at him.
“You know,” Harry demonstrated the oddest tick Ginny had ever seen.
“Not in class, but I have seen him do that.” Fred’s brow was furrowed. “It looks like a psychosomatic thing. I don’t think he’s realizing he’s doing it.”
“His eye can see through my cloak.” Harry sighed.
“Huh.” George said in an understanding tone that made Ginny snort and Neville groan.
“He wasn’t gonna say anything.” Harry rolled his eyes. “Besides, you saw the map with me.”
“Yeah, still dunno why Crouch was here, let alone in Snape’s store room.” George agreed.
“Wait.” Fred pointed between Harry and George, “he’s the one stealing from the stores?”
“Seems like it.” George nodded.
“What’s gone missing?” Harry asked, looking between them.
“Boomslang skin and lacewing flies, mostly.” Fred muttered.
“Oh no.” Harry groaned, rolling, though it looked more like he was melting, and falling fully against Neville on the floor.
“What?” Ginny asked.
“Polyjuice potion.” Harry mumbled into Neville’s arm where his face had fallen.
“Don’t say that.” Neville whined. “Because that means someone here isn’t who they say they are.”
“Just one year.” Harry whined against Neville petulantly. “Just one fucking year, guys. One year where crazy shit doesn’t happen.”
“Too late for that.” Ginny pointed out. “Nothing will happen til the end of the year, so suck it up, Potter. Few more short months and then we can reset.”
“Not selling it, Gin.” Harry grumbled.
“Yeah, I know.” She sighed. “Sorry.”
Once March came around, the meeting for the club came. People had actually quietly campaigned for positions and they’d actually tallied votes and gotten new people put in place to help Fred, George, Neville, and Ginny out. She’d actually forgotten about naming Malfoy the president for a while, but when he showed up with a cohort of Slytherins, she had to fight not to laugh. He looked more like he’d been dragged along, but he was still there.
Neville was promoted to President, with Ginny moving to Vice and Dean became the new Secretary while Ron and Hermione were in charge of the fund raising events. The other Houses wanted to participate, but didn’t want to hold positions. Which was fine. The official organization was Student Council, but everyone called it FC for fan-club since that’s what it started as. Calling it an all school council is what allowed the Board to approve their existence. It was pretty cool, all in all.
On April 1st, the twins’ birthday, confetti and fireworks went off in the Great Hall, and banners dropped all over the school all day long. Several people, including some teachers, ended up with brightly colored hair that only changed colors to something more vibrant when they tried to undo it. Ginny was curious how they pulled it off, but they swore it wasn’t them. She caught a glimpse of Harry smirking as balloons released and filled the entry hall, well over seven feet high, duplicating whenever someone tried to use magic to dispel them. She laughed for a solid 20 minutes at people making it out all staticy with their hair sticking straight up and looking annoyed.
“You are one lucky man, George.” She sighed, sitting with them at dinner.
“Obviously.” George snorted. “But why are you saying that so randomly?”
“Because,” she pointed her spoon at him, “your boyfriend is the menace responsible for today’s shenanigans.”
“He is?” Fred and George asked, looking up just as Harry walked in, sitting between them.
“So?” He asked innocently, “how was your day?”
“Incredible, actually.” George said, a slow smile spreading over his face.
“Glad to hear it.” Harry smiled back brightly.
“Too bad your birthday’s over the summer.” Fred sighed in annoyance.
“Something I’m grateful for at the moment.” Harry snickered.
“You’re a menace to society, Harry Potter, and I love you.” Ginny stated certainly, grinning when Harry blushed.
“Detention, Potter.” McGonagall said, walking by without looking at him.
“As expected.” Harry chuckled. “Can’t prove anything, though.”
“Don’t need to. Some of the spells for the stunts today could only come from two specific people. Two people I happen to know are in contact with you.” She called over her shoulder.
“Yes, Professor.” Harry said, still grinning.
Fred and George both hugged Harry tightly when a cake popped up on the table in front of them with candles for them to blow out for dessert. Ginny absolutely did not want to know how George thanked Harry for the birthday pranks, but they both looked pretty happy before everyone went to bed. She did hug her brothers and gave them a small gift she’d gotten them each before leaving them alone to enjoy their 17th birthday alone for a bit.
She tried to sleep, she did, but she couldn’t. Fred and George were 17, now. They were technically adults in the wizarding world. That just left her and Ron under 17, out of all of them. And Ron was 15 already. Harry and Ginny would be the same age for a little longer, though. Well. She was turning 14 soon enough, anyway. So they’d be the same age for a bit. She tossed and turned until breakfast.
“Ok, what’s wrong?” Fred asked with a pointed look.
“You’re 17 now.” Ginny said slowly, glancing at George and Harry. “You’re both legal adults for our kind.”
“And?” Fred pressed.
“And our family have a tendency to fall in love quickly, especially around your age, and it lasts.” She said quietly.
“True.” Fred agreed slowly, glancing over at Angelina. “But not all of us. Bill and Charlie are still single. And Percy likes his girlfriend, but I don’t think he’s in love with her. Pretty sure that was a relationship of convenience for both of them.”
“Yeah, well Percy’s the odd one out. And Charlie doesn’t want anything like that.” Ginny huffed. “Harry still has two more years before he’s 17. Which means whatever is going on there,” she gestured to the two idiots snickering at something, “is gonna be long and drawn out.”
“Gin, do you not think they should be together?” Fred asked in confusion.
“No, I do, I think they belong together because they fit so well. It’s just ..” She groaned in frustration, “look, Harry has to go back, doesn’t he? They have this thing, here at school, but they won’t be able to have it over the summer. Not without Harry paying for it in some way.”
“You’re not suggesting-”
“I’m not suggesting anything.” Ginny groaned again, feeling more than frustrated. “I just … maybe when he turns 16? I dunno, Fred, I just think we’ll need to get him out of that awful place so it doesn’t break George’s heart.”
“We’ll …” Fred sighed heavily and put his fork down and watched Harry and George for a minute before looking back at her, “we’ll give it the summer. See how things go, ok? We’ve still got another year of school, so we’ll still be here together for a bit. We can figure something out between now and then, alright?”
“I hope so.” Ginny agreed.
Instead of Luna following Ginny, Ginny followed Luna the rest of the day. She needed to be close to her friend and it was always so calming to be around her. She felt better by the end of the day, though, so it paid off. And the detention from McGonagall for not attending her classes wasn’t too bad. That good day allowed her to calm her anxious nerves and thoughts to make it through the next few weeks.
Harry wasn’t sleeping much. The bags under his eyes were getting worse, but he played it off. There wasn’t anything he could do about nerves and bad dreams, especially combined, and the final task approaching. He spent a lot of time in the library, going through different defense and creature books, taking notes and absently twirling his wand as if practicing charms or transfigurations while he was absorbed. He was kicked out when he accidentally transfigured two tables and the accompanying chairs into hedgehogs that scurried away.
Fred and George both found it hilarious, even if Harry was mortified by it. McGonagall gave him points when he demonstrated turning them back since it was advanced Transfiguration that they weren’t meant to be learning until their sixth year. Several girls had decided to take turns braiding his hair when he fell asleep in the common room. Trying out different styles to see if he noticed or not.
He didn’t.
Seeing the maze in place of the quidditch pitch was … sad. The whole team looked to be mourning. Ginny wasn’t on the team, not yet, but she was upset about it as much as they were. The FC set up more booths for the final event, but not until their final exams were over a few days before the task. They didn’t have the capacity for it while they were cramming. Ginny felt fried as well, but she and Neville still managed to organize a decent set up to raise money to introduce new extracurriculars.
Angelina had braided Harry’s hair this time, putting it in some sort of viking braids, she called them. Ginny couldn’t help holding her brothers’ hands when they were seated in the stands, seeing how small Harry looked among everything that was going on. Fred and George were pressed against her sides, both equally anxious. No one was taking bets this time, though. Neville was biting on his nails beside George, while the quidditch team looked similarly stressed on Fred’s side. So many people were on edge after Mr. Crouch had been officially reported missing after Harry and Krum had found him by the woods and then lost him.
Harry and Cedric were going into the massive hedge maze first. Then Delacour, then Krum. Cedric hugged Harry, patting his shoulder and smiling at him before they separated to wait for the cannon. Harry looked up into the stands and spotted them, smiling a wobbly, nervous smile, before turning back to the entrance. The images weren’t set to start showing anything until all the Champions were in the maze, as long as they worked. Fred and George weren’t sure they would, or how long they would, since the original spellwork was water based. It was how they were able to view the events in the lake.
Ginny isn’t ashamed to say she hid her face in Fred’s shoulder a time or two. There was some confusion when Krum’s viewing fogged over, though. Like it was being obscured or something.
“He’s being imperiused.” George whispered in shock.
Everyone held their breath as they saw Krum attack Delacour, though his eyes were fogged over just like his viewing section. Then there was Cedric, but Harry showed up and kept them from getting too violent. He shot off sparks for Delacour when he found her, then again for Krum before he took off running, Cedric running as well. Ginny gasped when Harry had a clear path to the cup but Cedric fell. She shouldn’t have been surprised that he turned back to help the older boy, but she was. Then they were both running for the cup as the maze started to change again, both agreeing to take it together, before they were gone. Everyone in the crowd was silent as they watched and waited, expecting the boys to drop in front of them, but nothing happened. Krum and Delacour were retrieved, but neither Harry nor Cedric showed back up again.
Not for at least an hour.
And when they did appear? Harry was sobbing against Cedric, clinging to him desperately, while the cup bounced away. Ginny felt like she was going to be sick. Harry had blood smeared on his head and dripping down his arm, but Cedric was pale. Too pale. And his eyes were open. And he wasn’t moving.
“No.” She whispered, feeling her eyes burn. “No, no, no.”
“No!” Harry screamed, holding onto Cedric as if his life depended on it, when some of the adults finally leapt into action. “No! He- he’s back!” Harry sobbed. “Voldemort, he’s back.”
“Shh. You’re alright now, Harry.” Dumbledore attempted to soothe.
“Cedric-” Harry gasped, being pulled away from the older boy by Moody, “h- he asked m- me t- to bring hi- his b- bod- body back. I- I cou- couldn’t leave h- him. Not- not there.”
“You’re safe now, Harry.” Dumbledore said, but he looked up at Moody who nodded and slowly backed Harry away so Mr. and Mrs. Diggory could get through to his son.
“We-” Ginny croaked, clearing her throat as best she could through her own tears, “we have to go. We have to get to Harry.” She finally whispered.
Fred and George leapt to their feet, Ginny and Neville with them, running for the castle, toward Harry. But he wasn’t in the hospital wing. They barely paused before taking off for the DADA office, slamming into the door when they got there.
“Let him go!” George shouted, kicking at the door. It shuddered, but didn’t budge. He, Fred, Ginny, and Neville leveled their wands at it and the door shattered into splinters from the force of all their spells, but there was still another door to get through. Ginny screamed as she blasted at it, not caring that McGonagall, Snape, and Dumbledore had run in behind them. They rushed into the room and found Harry held against the wall at wand point. Neville disarmed Moody before a blast from George or Fred, maybe both, sent the man across the room into a chair. Where he fell and started convulsing. His body shifted and rippled as if …
“Oh, shit.” Fred whispered, watching in horror as Moody turned into another man entirely.
“Harry was right.” Ginny agreed, her wand pointed at the imposter.
“Polyjuice potion.” Neville added in shock.
“Harry?” George was saying softly, and Ginny chanced a look back at them when the teachers finally stepped forward. “Harry, can you hear me?”
“He’s dead.” Harry whispered. “I said to take it together, it was my idea. Now he-” Harry cut off, covering his mouth.
“Let’s get you to hospital, ok?” George said, still talking gently, regardless of the tears staining his face. “You need a healer, sweetheart.”
“Mum called me that.” Harry whimpered. “She was there. Her ghost. And dad. And Cedric. And that woman that went missing from the Ministry. And an old man. They stopped them from seeing me so I could get back to Cedric, to the cup.”
“Ok, ok,” George nodded, wiping at his face and reaching out slowly to touch Harry. “Feel this, Harry, ok?” George touched his necklace and Harry gasped, eyes finally locking onto George and clearing up so he was actually seeing him. “I’m right here.”
“Hurts.” Harry whispered, before his eyes rolled back in his head and he was slumping forward into George’s arms, completely knocked out.
“Move!” Fred shouted at the Minister and a few others that had found their way in, barely getting out of the way before they were racing for the hospital wing again, this time with Harry bleeding and unconscious from who knew what type of injuries. Delacour and Krum were already in beds with a few people around them when they blew inside. Madam Pomfrey rushed over and they all finally got their first look at Harry. A few parts of his hair were singed, his robes were torn and burnt, and he had dirt caked under his nails and on his face and glasses. There was a small gash on his cheek, another close to his hairline, and his forearm had a nasty cut that was at least six inches long. And it was still bleeding. His hands were twitching, as if he had no control over them.
Fred, George, and Ginny were still sitting right next to Harry when their parents rushed in with Ron and Hermione and a big black dog trailing Professor Lupin. Ginny isn’t proud to admit that she sobbed in her mother’s arms, but George looked a second away from joining her, so she wasn’t embarrassed. They waited for a little while, but after only about 20 minutes, Harry jolted awake, screaming before he cut himself off and gasped for breath.
“It was real?” Harry whispered brokenly.
“Can you tell us what happened?” George asked gently, stroking a hand carefully through Harry’s tangled, messed up braid.
“I demand answers, Dumbledore!” The minister shouted, striding in and heading straight for Harry. “What the hell happened, Potter?”
“The cup was a portkey.” Harry croaked, holding George’s hand like it was his lifeline. “It dropped us in … in a graveyard.”
“A graveyard, Harry?” Dumbledore asked curiously.
“The one I saw in my dreams.” Harry nodded. “The one I told you about. I tried to tell Cedric we needed to go, that something was wrong. But my scar hurt so bad.” Harry whimpered. “Pettigrew came out and he just … he just killed Cedric. He didn’t even have a chance to defend himself. Tied me to a headstone. There was a cauldron. He dropped something in it. Like … like a deformed golem or homunculus or something. It was a spell or ritual. He took a bone from the grave, Pettigrew cut off his hand, then he sliced my arm for my blood. Then-” Harry gulped, looking sick, “then everything melted away and he was there. Voldemort. He called his followers, tortured a lot of them before paying attention to me.”
“Did he use the Cruciatus on you?” Madam Pomfrey interrupted, looking as shaken as Ginny felt.
Harry just nodded. His hands were shaking so bad, it was a wonder George wasn’t vibrating from the force of it.
“How many times?” She pressed. “Or how long?”
“I lost track.” Harry whispered, licking his lips. “Maybe … maybe three or four times?”
“The boy is clearly in shock.” Fudge scoffed, but he looked terrified. “He’s not back! He can’t be!”
“He is.” Harry argued quietly.
“You’ve no proof.” Fudge shouted, slamming a bag down onto the tray table, making Harry flinch so hard he almost fell off the bed. “Your winnings. I expect the next time you answer questions that you tell the truth!”
“I am telling the truth!” Harry shouted back in frustration, but the man was already storming away shaking his head. “I am.” Harry whispered.
“We believe you.” Fred said firmly.
“We do.” George, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Neville all agreed.
“Drink this, Potter.” Madam Pomfrey said, holding a vial out to him. “Followed by this.”
“What is it?” Harry asked weakly.
“Nerve potion. It’ll help lessen the aftershocks of the torture. Then the dreamless sleep. You need to rest so I can treat your other injuries better.” She said gently.
Harry didn’t blink, just snatched them from her and drank them hurriedly, still clutching George’s hand. When his body slowly lost its tension, the group slowly lost theirs as well. Fred encouraged the dog to get on the bed and get close to Harry. Which was weird, because Ginny was pretty sure it was the same dog that-
“Oh.” She said, letting out a small snort, causing a few people to look at her curiously. “Nothing, sorry, just … er … forgot who he was.”
“Who who is?” Her mother asked, frowning at her.
“Nothing, mum.” Ginny sighed. “Why don’t you and dad go home, yeah? Everything’s over, we’ll be on the train in a few short days.”
“We’d rather stay to make sure Harry’s ok.” Her dad said, patting her shoulder. “And you kids, as well.”
“We’re fine.” Ron frowned. “Better than Harry, leastways.”
“I’m sure he would appreciate you being here when he wakes up.” Lupin said calmly, eyes still glued to Harry as if he were going to disappear. “He’s only really got us, after all.”
“He was finally happy.” Hermione sniffled. “All year, really, since you four started helping him.”
“How is he?” Bill asked cautiously, wandering in.
“Asleep.” George croaked, and Bill stood behind him and put his hands on his shoulders comfortingly.
“He’ll be ok, Georgie.” Bill said gently. “He made it back to us.”
“He shouldn’t have had to!” George exclaimed, clearly upset and barely holding it together.
“Let’s take a walk, everyone.” Fred stated, before their parents could get onto George for any reason. “Give them a bit alone.”
“We can go get some clean clothes for him.” Neville nodded.
“And a book.” Hermione agreed, wiping her face.
“I’ll grab my quilt.” Ginny added, clearing her throat.
“Mum, dad, why don’t we go talk with the Professors for a minute?” Bill suggested.
Ginny could see her mum wanted to argue, but her dad took her hand gently and kissed it before looking pointedly at George who was doing the same to Harry’s hands. When she saw it, she nearly burst into tears, but put a hand over her mouth and followed her dad and Bill away. Fred whispered to George before they were all leaving to go get some things for Harry. It didn’t take long for them to gather what they needed, and no one stopped them, but they froze in the corridor at the sight of Bill and McGonagall shouting at the Minister.
“You did NOT have that kind of authority!” Bill said angrily.
“As Minister for Magic-”
“Shut it!” Bill snapped furiously. “You are no longer the Minister. You took the law into your own hands, abusing your ELECTED authority. There was no KISS on sight order for Barty Crouch, Jr., because he has been listed as deceased for over a decade. You ILLEGALLY ordered a Dementor to the castle, a SCHOOL where hundreds of kids were just traumatized by one of their classmates dying, to save your own arse.”
“What he said.” McGonagall growled. “You do not get to pick and choose which dead or previously reported dead man to believe is alive and deserves such a fate.”
“The Wizengamot will not be pleased, nor will the DMLE.” Ginny almost choked when her dad spoke, sounding much more calm than the other two. “I think it would be best, Minister, if you stop talking.”
“You, you, and you,” A woman in maroon robes, followed by half a dozen others, said as she neared the group, “I want a full statement of the crimes you believe were committed this evening.”
“Now, see here-”
“Minister, I believe Mr. Weasley had the right idea telling you to shut up.” She sneered.
“Director Bones, thank you for coming so quickly.” Snape said, strolling over. He looked more awful than normal. Almost as bad as Harry, really. “Minerva, perhaps we should take this to your office? I believe we’ve given the children enough of a show.” Ginny flushed as the adults finally realized they were all standing there watching the whole thing.
“Oh, good, you got him the fluffy one.” Her mother said, walking over and taking the blanket from Ginny’s hands so she was just holding the fuzzy socks and a pillow. “Come along, dears, let’s have these handy so when Harry wakes up and showers he can be comfortable.”
“I’ve never seen Bill that riled up.” Ron said in awe.
“Yes, well,” their mother looked rather proud, “he only spoke the truth.”
Ginny helped her mother cover Harry with the blanket, while Neville put his clothes down. Hermione put a book, Sherlock Holmes, on the nightstand, while Ron set down a handful of chocolate frogs. Fred gave George one of his quidditch jumpers. And then they all sat down to wait. Harry was under a small dose of dreamless sleep, so he would eventually wake up. And they all needed to be there for him.
When the others had all left the hospital wing, and morning was nearing, Harry finally stirred. He groaned awake and rubbed his eyes. Ron and Neville coaxed him into taking a shower while Fred and George were sleeping on the cots on either side of Harry’s bed. Hermione had pulled another chair over and her and Ginny were dozing off and on while leaning on her mum. Ginny jumped when the doors slammed open, Fred and George bolting up as well. Harry had stumbled a little as he’d only just reached his bed when it happened. George jumped to his feet and wrapped Harry in a hug before quickly shoving his jumper over his head. Ginny rolled her eyes as she saw the Weasley on the back of it before he was pushing Harry back into bed. Harry was like a koala, though and dragged George in with him. George smiled and sat on the bed, pulling Harry between his legs and hugging him from behind.
“Alright.” Director Bones said, gliding over and looking them all over with a critical eye. “We’re starting with you.” She pointed at the dog, but Harry stiffened and wrapped his arms around the dog’s neck.
“He didn’t do anything.” Harry argued.
“So I’ve been informed.” She raised an eyebrow at Harry. “That does not mean I can allow justice or injustice to slip by. I assume you want him cleared?”
“It’s ok, Harry.” Bill said, joining them. “She’ll make sure he’s treated fairly and protected in the meantime.”
“Will she?” Lupin asked. His tone was challenging.
“I’m in a position to right a grievous wrong, Mr. Lupin.” She said sternly. “Now let me do my job or I can make this so much worse for all of you.”
“It’s ok, Harry.” Sirius said, transforming back into himself. “It’s alright. Amelia is good at what she does. Always has been. I trust her.”
“But you’ll come back, right?” Harry pleaded, his eyes watery, making Ginny’s water.
“I’ll always come back for you, pup. Be with your family. They’ve been worried sick about you all night.”
“You’re my family, too.” Harry’s lip wobbled and Ginny lost her hold on keeping her tears at bay. Hermione did too, it seemed, as she sniffled.
“I get this handled and we’ll see each other again soon, ok? But if I’m gonna have any shot in hell to get cleared, it’ll be with her.” Sirius pulled Harry close, kissing his head while Harry nodded against his shoulder. Sirius must have whispered something to him because he snorted a wet laugh before loosening his hold and letting Sirius go. “Love you, kiddo.”
“Love you too.” Harry croaked.
“Mr. Lupin, it would be beneficial to hear your side of events as well for this.” Director Bones stated, and Lupin sighed heavily.
“We’ll be back before you know it, Harry.” Lupin said, patting Harry’s shoulder gently. “Don’t forget the motto.”
“I solemnly swear I am up to no good.” Harry whispered, grinning at them.
“Mischief managed.” Sirius snickered, kissing Harry’s head again, before transforming back into the dog and following Lupin and Director Bones out.
“I better go see where Arthur got off to.” Ginny looked at her mum curiously as she stood up and sat on the edge of Harry’s bed. “But you are welcome in our home anytime, Harry. I mean it. Anytime.” When she hugged Harry, it took a ridiculous amount of willpower for Ginny not to burst out sobbing again at the sight of Harry clinging to her and crying silently. His shoulders shook and she just shushed him and stroked a hand through his hair calmly. Just like she’d done for all of them when they had bad days or nights. Unable to stand it anymore, Ginny stood up and hugged them both before George, Fred, and Ron, even Bill, were all hugging Harry. Encompassing him and enfolding him in the family.
Harry must have fallen asleep, because George carefully shifted him back against his chest and leaned back on the bed. Fred stayed with them, since everyone else had stayed awake a lot the previous night to keep an eye on Harry, meaning the rest of them were exhausted and needed to rest. Ginny wanted to argue, but she was so worn out, physically and especially emotionally, so it wasn’t much of a fight for her and Hermione to go to bed and fall asleep quickly. She figured Ron and Neville would be the same way.
It was a weird few days leading up to the other schools departing and Hogwarts letting out. Harry stayed in the hospital pretty much the whole time, as did someone from their group. They refused to let him be alone for long. Harry was pretty out of it still, on the train. So it wasn’t a problem for them to let him have a few minutes alone with George as they pulled into the station.
Fred and George both looked stunned when they got off the train, though, instead of just George. They couldn’t do anything but watch in silence as Harry shook his shoulders a few times and wiped a hand over his face, locking away his expression. Like he was putting on a mask. He took a deep breath and let it go before he was being hauled away by his relatives. Ginny found Bill’s eyes, because he hadn’t let go that Harry wasn’t being cared for at home. He nodded to her and disillusioned himself. There was no word on what was happening with Sirius yet, and the Minister was being reported to be up for trial soon for abuse of power as well as meting out personal vendettas on supposed criminals.
It was going to be a long summer. Not just for their quintet of disquietude, but for the whole wizarding community of Great Britain.